Sheltered Cove

Oil on Panel
16 x 12

Once again I find I don't have much to say about this. Another foggy day, more water, some foreground rocks. All together I think it works fairly well though.

Daydreams

Silverpoint
11 x 8

After those last two let's cleanse the room with something a bit better. Not much to say about this. I'm thinking about cropping a little bit off the top, but that will wait until framing time, assuming I frame it at all. All for today, not feeling very talkative. I just wanted to put something half way decent up for you to see.

Changed my mind, I do have something to say here. This is actually a second version. The first wasn't that bad with one exception. I wasn't all that satisfied with the face. Considering that's the center of interest, that's really not such a small problem. But it just needed a little change so maybe I could fix it. I've said that erasing is iffy at best with silverpoint. In this case iffy turned out to be no way, won't come off. Well, it is a gouache ground so maybe I could just reground it, gouache is opaque right? Yeah, not so much here, and the toned ground proved to be impossible to match. One last try, sandpaper. Sand off that spot and do here again. Yeah good idea. This is a second version for a reason. Things just went from bad to worse to the point that the only way to save it was to start from scratch, totally new version. Should have done that to start with. The moral is with silverpoint, just don't screw up. Know what you're going to do and do it right.

Close But No Cigar

I don't know about the rest of the world, but I seem to do a lot of things that fall just short of what I'm trying to do. Today's post will be devoted to a couple of those so maybe I can put them behind me, and move on to something with more potential. Realistically I know I'll keep playing with them until they're either right or screwed up beyond all possibility of fixing. Maybe you'll have a suggestion or maybe you'll convince me that they aren't as bad as I think or maybe I'm talking to myself and this will just be a catharthic experience.


Oil on Canvas
18 x 30

Something's just not quite right. The middle building in particular is bothering me. I think it needs to be pushed back some which sounds easy enough, but in practice is proving a bit more difficult. The brick silo isn't really working with the dull red barn either. Okay, fix those things and problem solved right? We'll see.

When I first saw this barn all the paint had been scraped off and it was a lovely silvery gray like, well, barnwood. When a got back a day or two later it was already painted with a coat of primer that was this dull red. It still had a charm to it, but it wasn't the same feel. Now it's got it's final coat of bright red, and it's turned into the red barn cliche. I'm sure the farmer likes the new paint job much better, and I'll admit it is a good looking farm, but something's just gone from it. It seems to have lost it's character. Maybe that says something about me.


Night Calls a Woman
Oil on Panel
18 x 12

A couple years ago I was watching something on TV, Austin City Limits I think, and there was this band (forget the name, sorry) playing this song that kept repeating this phrase, "night calls a woman." It stuck with me, and just would not go away. So to free my mind of this one musical phrase I did this. Nocturns seem to be quite a bit more difficult than I had imagined. This is the second, maybe third, version, and it's still not quite right. The good news is, I seem to be getting closer. On the other hand that phrase still hasn't completely left my head.

So there it is. This may be a first for me. I never let anyone see anything before it's done and ready for public consumption. In my world it's either right or wrong, and if it's wrong then fix it or start over. Next time I'll find something better to post.

Back Studies

oil on canvas
10 x 8

oil on canvas
10 x 8

Just a couple quick little studies today. I always seem to end up with little odds and ends of canvas off the roll. Being incredibly cheap (I prefer to think of it as thrifty) I always keep them around and eventually get them used up. That's the case here, just bits and pieces of leftovers put to use. I haven't even bothered to stretch them. If nobody wants them they may never get stretched, but that wasn't the point though. The object was practice. If they happen to turn out half-way decent so much the better. Any thoughts, anybody want to give them a home?